Birdwatching

Rara avis

The benefits of global warming

THE white-tailed kite cruising over the coastal grassland at Stratford Point is feeling pugnacious. It hounds an alarmed kestrel out of the park, then barrels through a flock of seagulls. Satisfied, the kite returns to its perch and shows off the black epaulettes on its grey back. “That's just such a wonderful bird,” gasps one of the watchers. The wonderful bird stares back at her.

It looks completely at home. But for all the confidence with which it hover-hunts in Connecticut, the kite is the first of its kind to be recorded in the state and only the second in New England. Its western range now extends to Oregon, but in the eastern United States the white-tailed kite remains a bird of the South. Normally, South Carolina marks its northern limit. Which is why, since arriving on August 1st, the kite has caused hundreds of birdwatchers (or twitchers, as the British like to call them) to migrate to Stratford.

The white-tail is not the only southern bird to drift north recently. Mississippi kites now nest in New England. Black vultures, once just vagrants this far north, thrive in New Haven. Rising temperatures in the north-east may have helped. This year saw the hottest summer ever recorded, and that seems to suit the southerners.

Whatever the explanation, birdwatchers are entranced. They hover in optimistic vigil, cameras and binoculars poised. More than 6,000 people follow the updates on the Connecticut Audubon Society's blog. Many drive for hours, eager to glimpse the rarity before the cold fronts of autumn carry it back south. “I was out there fishing yesterday evening,” says one enthusiast, “and I swear it flew right over me. And then it flew over me again. I just couldn't believe it.” If summers keep sizzling, there may come a time when white-tailed kites overhead are no longer unbelievable.